Based on global warming, decline of existing energy resources, exponential population growth, increasing geopolitical instabilities which are the result of uncertainty of the future energy supply, together with the fact that buildings represent about 40% of total energy consumption worldwide leads to a conclusion that a good architecture is not possible without a good energy concept.

The buildings represent the bigger part of one of the biggest problem of our society - fair distribution of available resources. Therefore architecture can be a big part of the solution. Never before in the history of our civilization architecture had such a chance to gain one of the central roles in the society. Good architecture is always representing the expression of the cultural values, priorities and hopes of a society. Now it can produce a physical response for the existential challenges.

A sustainable development by definition cannot get along with the decay in architectural quality of our built environment. A building with low architectural quality and good energy concept is not an actual benefit for a sustainable future. The objective of research and teaching at the Institute is the maximization of energy performance of buildings and cities, and the development of architectural and urban projects through form and structure optimization toward energy efficiency.

The World Sustainable Energy Days are one of the largest annual conferences in this field in Europe, offering a unique combination of events on sustainable energy.The World Sustainable Energy Days 2015 take place from 25-27 February 2015 in Wels / Austria.

MVRDV has been announced as winner of a two-stage, BAI-backed competition for a new "spatially-flexible" tower with a twisting "hourglass figure" near Vienna's world famous Gasometers. The 110-meter "Turm mit Taille" (Tower with Waist) was shaped to minimize the effect of the building's shadow cast onto neighboring buildings and an adjacent metro station.

"The site for the tower is directly adjacent to a metro station, and building regulations initially restricted allowable construction to a 75-meter-high volume, which should be trapezoidal in plan," stated Rotterdam-based practice in a press release. "MVRDV proposed a more compact and efficient square layout, which resulted in a taller volume to make up for the reduced footprint. The solution was to parametrically shape the lower 10 floors of the building into a twist, to minimize the structure's shadow cast onto the neighboring facades to only two hours a day."

"Through this operation, an elegant, hourglass figure emerged that responds to its surroundings by opening up views towards the Gasometers and the rest of the city. The design for the plaza around the tower becomes like a gigantic sundial, on which the shadow of the building delineates the passing of time."

The building will provide 35,680-square-meters of flexible space which can accommodate both offices and housing, as well as retail spaces, restaurants, cafes and parking.